Halloween can be a downright spooky experience for dogs and cats. You can protect your pets by taking these steps to reduce the risk of them being hurt, poisoned, or lost.

Pet Safety Tips for this Halloween

Don’t feed pets Halloween treats.

According to the American Veterinary Association, even healthy treats like raisins can cause your pet’s kidneys to fail, and candy may contain substances toxic to pets, such as chocolate or xylitol (a common sugar substitute found in sugar-free candies and gum).  

Make sure your pets have identification.

Keep your microchip, collar, and ID tag up to date. These will make it easy to return them home in situations where cats or dogs escape while you’re distracted with trick-or-treaters.

Keep Halloween decor and other decorations away from your pets.

Keep candle lit candles, jack-o-lanterns, and other Halloween decorations out of reach of pets.

Keep glow sticks, decorations, batteries, and other costume items away from pets. Glow stick items can release liquid that tastes really bad and can make pets drool excessively or act strangely (though it isn’t likely to be harmful). Other costume parts and decorations might cause choking, internal injury, or illness.

If you plan to put a costume on your pet, make sure it follows these guidelines:

• Fits properly and is comfortable
• Doesn’t have any pieces that easily can be chewed off or cause choking
• Doesn’t block your pet’s sight, hearing, breathing, mouth, or movement

• Take time before Halloween to get your pet accustomed to the costume, and never leave a costumed pet unsupervised.
• If your pet is wary of strangers or has a tendency to bite, put them in a room away from the front door during trick-or-treating hours, or provide them with a safe hiding place.
• Keep your pet indoors.